Greyhounds win home opener

It was exactly the start the Soo Greyhounds were looking for.

The Greyhounds opened up a 2-0 lead and skated to a 6-1 win over the visiting Windsor Spitfires at the Essar Centre in the Greyhounds home opener.

“We talked about it all week about it being the home opener and the excitement behind it, not to get caught up in the hoopla but just be ready to play,” said Greyhounds coach Mike Stapleton. “Credit to the players. They were ready. They got themselves prepared to come out and got rewarded for it.”

Nick Cousins had a pair of goals, while Andrew Fritsch, Joe Rogalski, Colin Miller and Carson Dubchak also scored for the Greyhounds Brett Findlay and Ryan Sproul each had three assists in the win.

Kerby Rychel had the lone goal for the Spitfires in the loss.

“Slow starts have been our pattern the last few games,” said Windsor coach Bob Boughner. “To be honest, I didn’t like one of the goals, if not two. They weren’t great goals and with a team like ours, we’re not as deep as we’ve been the last few years so it’s too hard to just be giving up leads.”

Matt Murray stopped 19 shots in the win for the Greyhounds while John Cullen went the distance for Windsor, stopping 20 shots in the loss.

The Greyhounds are right back in action on Saturday night when they host the Kitchener Rangers. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m. **** OTHER SCORES

In St. Catharines, Johnson Andrews scored a pair of goals as the Niagara IceDogs doubled up the Barrie Colts 4-2. Tanner Pearson had a goal and an assist for the Colts.

In Sarnia, Sam Carrick scored the lone shootout goal as the Brampton Battalion beat the Sarnia Sting 4-3. Carrick had two goals in regulation time in the win. Nail Yakupov and Charles Sarault had two assists each for the Sting in a losing cause.

In Plymouth, JT Miller’s third-period goal was the winner as the Plymouth Whalers edged the Ottawa 67’s 3-2. Miller and Mitchell Heard had a goal and an assist each in the win. Sean Monahan scored a pair of goals for the 67’s.

In Saginaw, Matia Marcantuoni and Radek Faksa had a goal and an assist each as the Kitchener Rangers beat the Saginaw Spirit 4-1. John Gibson stopped 35 shots in the win while Tobias Reider and Michael Catenacci had two assists each. Peter Hermenegildo scored the lone Saginaw goal.

In Guelph, Zack Mitchell had three goals and an assist in the Guelph Storm\s 10-2 victory over the Erie Otters. Ryan Horvat added two goals and an assist while Francis Menard added a pair of goals for Storm. Mike Cazzola and MacMcDonnell scored for Guelph.

In Kingston, Steven Trojanovic scored in the third period to give the Kingston Frontenacs as they beat the Peterborough Petes 2-1.

In London, Ryan Rupert had three goals and an assist as the London Knights beat the Sudbury Wolves 8-2. Dane Fox chipped in with a pair of goals and an assist.

At Mississauga, Riley Brace scored a pair of goals as the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors defeated the Owen Sound Attack 4-3. Stuart Percy added a pair of goals while Jordan Mayer chipped in with three assists.

In Oshawa, Stephen Silas scored at 4:57 of the third period to give the Belleville Bulls a 2-1 road win over the Oshawa Generals. Luke Judson also scored for Belleville while Lucas Lessio scored for the Generals.